No one’s quite certain what causes Meniere’s disease. But it’s hard to ignore its effects. Some common symptoms of this disorder are vertigo, dizziness, ringing in the ears, and hearing loss. Experts aren’t really sure why, but for some reason, fluid can build up in the ears and this seems to be the root cause of Meniere’s disease.
So the question is: if a condition doesn’t have a discernible cause, how can it be dealt with? The answer is, well, complicated.
What exactly is Meniere’s disease?
There’s a persistent affliction that affects the inner ear and it’s called Meniere’s disease. For many patients, Meniere’s disease is progressive, meaning symptoms will get worse as time passes. Those symptoms could include:
Unpredictable bouts of vertigo: Unfortunately, there’s no way to determine when these attacks of vertigo may strike or how long they could last.
Tinnitus: The severity of this tinnitus may ebb and flow, but it’s not uncommon for those with Meniere’s Disease to have ringing in their ears.
Fullness in the ear: This manifests as a sensation of pressure in your ears and is medically called aural fullness.
Hearing loss: Eventually, Meniere’s disease can cause a loss of hearing.
It’s important that you get an accurate diagnosis if you’re noticing these symptoms. For many people with Meniere’s, symptoms are intermittent. But as time passes, symptoms can become more regular and obvious.
Treatment for Menier’s disease
Meniere’s disease is a progressive and chronic condition for which there is no known cure. But there are a few ways to deal with the symptoms.
The following are a few of those treatments:
- Steroid shots: Injections of certain types of steroids can temporarily help alleviate some Meniere’s symptoms, particularly in regards to vertigo.
- Positive pressure therapy: There’s a non-invasive method employed when Meniere’s is particularly hard to manage. It’s called positive pressure therapy. In order to minimize fluid accumulation, the inner ear is subjected to positive pressure. While positive pressure therapy is encouraging, the long-term benefits of this approach have not been borne out by peer-reviewed research.
- Diuretic: A diuretic is another medication option that might be prescribed by your doctor. The concept is that reducing the retention of fluids could help minimize pressure on your inner ear. This is a long-term medication that you’d take instead of one to decrease extreme symptoms.
- Medications: In some situations, your physician will be prescribe anti-dizziness and anti-nausea medications. If those particular symptoms appear, this can be helpful. For instance, medications created to help with motion sickness may help you feel less dizzy when a bout of vertigo occurs.
- Surgery: Occasionally, Meniere’s disease can be addressed with surgery. Normally, however, only the vertigo part of the disease is affected by this surgery. It won’t impact the other symptoms.
- Hearing aid: It might be time to get hearing aids if Meniere’s disease is progressing to the point where your ability to hear is failing. Generally, a hearing aid won’t necessarily slow the progress of your hearing loss. But it can benefit your mental health by keeping you socially engaged. Hearing aids can also help you deal with the symptoms of tinnitus in numerous ways.
- Rehabilitation: When Meniere’s disease is flaring up, You can use certain physical therapies that can help with balance. If you’re regularly dizzy or dealing with vertigo, this approach might be warranted.
Get the correct treatment for you
You should get checked out if think you may have Meniere’s disease. The development of Meniere’s disease might be slowed down by these treatments. More frequently, however, they minimize the impact that Meniere’s will have on your day-to-day life.
